capital Kabul was "doing well" and stressed it has established contacts with her kidnappers. 32-year old Clementina Cantoni of CARE International was abducted in Kabul late Monday,
May 16 and forced from her car by several armed man, Afghan officials said.
"CARE International is deeply concerned and calls for her immediate release" the organization added in a statement from its Brussels headquarters.
The organization said Cantoni had been engaged in humanitarian work for 10 years and lived in Afghanistan since March 2002. "Since September 2003, she managed the ‘Humanitarian Assistance for the Women of Afghanistan’ project for CARE International, providing food assistance and income-generating activities for 11,000 widows and their children," CARE
International said.
"CONTACTS HAVE BEGUN"
However Italy’s foreign minister Gianfranco Fini suggested there was some reason for optimism. "We know that she is well. Contacts have been begun," The Associated Press (AP) news agency quoted Fini as telling reporters.
He did not elaborate on the efforts to win the freedom of the humanitarian aid worker. In Kabul Clementina Cantoni’s family has chosen not to speak to the media. A friend reportedly said: "All I can do is repeat what I’ve been asked to say on their behalf- we hope this finishes quickly and happily."
Her mother was taken to hospital shortly after hearing of her abduction, EuroNews television reported. Hundreds of Afghan widows were seen gathering in Kabul to demand the immediate release of Cantoni, who had been helping them and thousands of other impoverished widows to support themselves and their children.
LONG HISTORY
CARE International, an independent, non-sectarian humanitarian organization, began work in Afghanistan in 1961, and currently works with Afghan communities on projects including education, health, water and sanitation, natural resources and small economic activity development.
The organization has programs in over 70 countries and claims to touch the lives "of over 45 million of the world’s poorest people." The kidnapping has added to concern among Christian and other aid workers in Afghanistan, which has seen several anti-American protests in recent days.
MORE KIDNAPPINGS
The gang has reportedly told police they were also involved in the kidnapping in Kabul last year of three United Nations workers, who were released unharmed one month later. This is the second high profile kidnapping case for CARE International in about half a year.
In November 2004, its Iraq Director Margaret Hassan, 59, was kidnapped and eventually killed by militants in Iraq. (With BosNewsLife Research and reports from Afghanistan)
